Super Bowl commercials: Pepsi Zero Sugar, Missy Elliott, H.E.R. ‘Paint It Black’

There are a number of memorable ads this Super Bowl Sunday, and over the course of the big game, consider CarterMatt your source for some of the best! We’re going to be presenting you with ways to watch/re-watch the ads, plus also our verdict on whether or not some of them are effective at their intended goal. Sure, they want to be funny and buzzworthy, but shouldn’t they also sell the product?

For the sake of this article, we break down our take on the Pepsi ad, one that is meant this year to hype up their Zero Sugar Drink. Pepsi and Mountain Dew are both hailing from the same pairing company, so it does make sense for the two of them to go in a similar direction with new “diet” drinks. They don’t have “diet” in the name, but the idea here is still the same.

The pitch – In the video below, you get a chance to see the legendary Missy Elliott and H.E.R. do a new version of “Paint It Black,” which is indicative of the Pepsi Zero Sugar can. It’s a vibrant, musical add — it’s pretty short, but also to the point.

What Works – We think that overall, what works here is that it is indicative of the Pepsi brand — remember that they love to create commercials that are all about music and having a good time with Pepsi involved. They are one of those companies that can do the same sort of commercial every year and so long as they use different stars, they can refresh it time and time again.

What Doesn’t – We’d say that, in general, there could’ve been something more here beyond music. That’s what made the ad last year with Cardi B and Steve Carell so memorable. There was still a music theme but something a little bit more.

Overall Verdict – This is an average ad for Pepsi — it’s perfectly on-brand for them and it does feature some familiar faces. Yet, we’re not sure that there are a lot of reasons to go out and buy a Pepsi Zero Sugar after watching this. It’s solid, but other than some good music, it fails to pop off the screen.

Want more Super Bowl commercials?

Then head over to the link here! Meanwhile, be sure to share what you think about this ad in the comments! (Photo: Pepsi.)